Chapter Three #3
Alan swallowed heavily. “I remember,” he murmured. “I don’t want any of you to get in trouble for me, though.”
“We’ll happily do it if it means protecting you. Remember what Rikar told you about the tribe protecting you because of me? The same goes for the mutants. Hell, for them, it’s personal because we’re family. If one of those enforcers even looks at you strangely, we’ll step in.”
“Let’s allow the enforcers to look at whatever they want to look at,” Alan said as he started pulling Matthew in the direction of Rikar’s house. “They’re here to help, even though you don’t seem to like that. Why don’t we give them a chance?”
“You should tell Moore that.”
“I will if he asks for my opinion. Honestly, he kind of scares me.”
Matthew laughed. “You have nothing to be worried about. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“Something tells me that’s not true.”
“Well, he’d hurt a fly if that fly had hurt someone he cares about. He’s a fierce fighter, but all he’s ever wanted was to keep us safe.”
“Then hopefully, he won’t bite the head off these enforcers since they haven’t done anything yet.”
Matthew wasn’t too sure about that, but he wanted to know what was happening, so he allowed his mate to drag him away.
He noticed that Alan got more tense as they got closer to the house, but he wasn’t about to try to change his mate’s mind.
Alan knew what he was doing, and he wasn’t wrong.
The enforcers would probably want to talk to him.
Matthew and Alan reached Rikar’s house before the enforcers. Rikar wasn’t surprised to see them since Alan lived there at the moment, but Matthew pointed in the general direction of the enforcers. “Someone’s here to see you.”
Rikar blinked. “Who?”
“A bunch of enforcers. You should probably call Moore.”
Rikar nodded and took his phone out. By the time he was done talking to Moore, someone was knocking on his front door.
Since he hadn’t said anything about them leaving, Matthew dragged Alan to his office.
He knew that was where Rikar would want to have this meeting, and he wanted to be there.
Not only did it involve him, but it also involved his mate, and he needed to know everything.
He and Alan tucked themselves into a corner so as not to attract too much attention.
Alan was almost vibrating because he was so tense, so Matthew put a hand on his thigh and squeezed.
Alan blinked, then smiled. He didn’t have time to say anything, unfortunately.
The door opened, and Rikar stepped in, followed by a stream of people.
Matthew hadn’t counted earlier, but there were eight council enforcers.
One of them was obviously a Nix, which was no doubt how they’d gotten to the village.
He had no idea about the others, though.
Initially, each team had been made up of a different kind of shifter, but things had changed over the years. There was no way for him to tell.
“Please sit wherever you find space,” Rikar said as he gestured around the room. “We’re waiting for more people, so it’s going to be a tight fit.”
The enforcers glanced in Matthew and Alan’s direction, but none of them said anything about their presence there. Instead, they found seats where they could.
Waiting was awkward. Alan started bouncing his knee and glared at Matthew when he squeezed his knee to make him stop. Matthew wasn’t about to start fighting with his mate over this, so he let it go. He didn’t mind much anyway.
Moore arrived a few minutes later. Matthew could tell he was pissy just by looking at him, and he hoped that the enforcers knew how to deal with that.
“My name is Dante,” one of the enforcers said once the door was closed. “I’m the leader of this enforcers’ team.”
Moore stared without saying anything. Thankfully, Rikar was as much in charge of this mess as Moore was.
Rikar was the tribe leader and controlled the village, while Moore led the mutants.
They were a group within a group, which wasn’t how things usually worked, but it did for them.
It helped that both Rikar and Moore were happy to work together.
The same couldn’t be said about Moore and the enforcers.
“My name is Rikar,” Rikar said. “I’m the leader of this tribe and the village. This is Moore.”
He didn’t explain who Moore was, but Matthew didn’t think he needed to. The enforcers would know already since he’d been the one to contact the council to ask for help.
Rikar didn’t say anything about Matthew and Alan, which was a relief, even though it wouldn’t last long.
For now, Matthew sat back and waited. He wanted to know what was happening and how the enforcers would help.
The mutants might not have a choice in accepting their presence here, but that didn’t mean they trusted them just yet.
It would take a while, especially since Matthew’s mate was involved.
He couldn’t trust anyone with Alan except the people he considered family.
Not even a bunch of people who’d trained for this.
* * * *
ALAN WAS NERVOUS. HE didn’t know these people. He didn’t know why they were here or what they’d want to do with him once they found out what he’d heard. He wouldn’t put it past Victor to have allies within the council, too.
He leaned closer to Matthew. He wanted to leave, but he was sure these people would want to talk to him, and Matthew wanted to be here anyway.
It was clear that he was curious about these enforcers, and Alan didn’t blame him.
From what Matthew had told him, it didn’t sound like the council had done much to help him and the other mutants while they were locked up.
Now, their enforcers were here, but everyone was wary of them.
They’d have to show that they were truly here to help.
“Why don’t you introduce us to your team?” Rikar suggested.
Dante didn’t seem to think that was weird. He gestured at his team in turn, allowing Alan and everyone else to put a face to the names.
“Jade is our resident Nix,” he said. “Then you have Logan, Blake, Cole, Nova, Jace, and Mason.”
The enforcers all nodded hello, and Alan allowed himself to stare at them for a moment. Had they been chosen for the team because of how good-looking they were? Most of them look like models, and the few who didn’t were still beautiful. It made Alan feel out of place and mousy.
“And these are?” Dante asked as he turned toward Alan and Matthew.
Alan opened his mouth, even though he wasn’t sure how to answer. Thankfully, Matthew took the lead.
“I work with Moore,” he said.
Dante stared at him for a moment. When he realized he wouldn’t get anything else, he nodded. “I see.”
“I don’t know if you actually do,” Moore said. “Matthew and I went through hell. We were tortured and experimented on. We’re not the only ones. The rest of our family went through the same experiences, and the council never helped.”
“As far as I know, the council didn’t know about this.”
“Didn’t they?”
“If they did, I’m sorry they didn’t help. You have to realize that I have nothing to do with what the council was doing back then, though. Hell, I don’t have anything to do with what the council is doing now. They give me orders, and I obey them.”
“What are your orders?”
“To provide you with any help you need. The council is worried about the labs and the hunters.”
“They wouldn’t be so worried if they’d done something to stop both of them sooner.”
Dante nodded. “I can’t say I disagree, but they’re willing to help now. Are you going to accept that help?”
Moore huffed. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“Of course you do. We all do.” Dante paused and glanced at his team. “We’re all supernatural beings. Our families are, too. We want to keep them safe, and I don’t like that the labs are still working. We want to help. It’s what we’re here for.”
Alan believed them, but he’d also believed Victor when he’d acted like a friend, so he wasn’t the right person to ask what to do now.
He was glad he wouldn’t have to choose whether or not to trust these people.
Hell, he was glad he wasn’t in charge of anyone like Moore and Rikar were. That would have been a disaster.
“Our main problem is that we’re stretched too thin,” Rikar explained.
“For years, both Moore and I have dealt with the labs with our teams. Unfortunately, the number of labs we’ve been dealing with lately has gone up.
The hunters have started helping them. They provide the labs with people and sometimes, security.
Unfortunately for us, they don’t have a central authority.
They move in small groups and families.”
Dante nodded. “We’ve had to deal with hunters before. We know how they work.”
“Then you know it’s like a game of whack-a-mole. Whenever we eliminate one group of hunters, another two pop up to take their place. Between that and the labs, it’s too much for us. That’s where you come in.”
“I realize that a lot of people here don’t trust us, but we’re willing to work with both of you,” Dante said.
“What do you know about my people?” Moore asked.
“Not as much as I should.”
“Do you know that we’ve all come out of the labs changed?”
Dante paused before nodding. “We do.”
Moore glanced at Matthew. Alan had no idea why, but Matthew seemed to understand because he raised his hand.
He’d shown Alan his ability earlier, but that was nothing next to what happened now. Earlier, Matthew had wanted Alan to know what he could do. He hadn’t been trying to impress or scare him. The same couldn’t be said now.
A bolt of lightning arched from his palm. It crackled and made the hair on Alan’s arms rise up. He didn’t feel threatened, though. He knew he wasn’t in danger with Matthew.
They hadn’t had the opportunity to talk about their relationship, but Alan thought it was obvious where things would go.
He might not have done it consciously, but he’d already made his decision.
He wanted to see where things went with Matthew.
Hopefully, they’d go far, but they’d have hurdles to jump over before they could find out. One of those hurdles was Victor.
Alan really fucking hated him.
The bolt of lightning arched from Matthew’s hand toward Dante.
The man had balls of steel because he didn’t move.
He barely even reacted. He kept his focus on the lightning, but it was as if he trusted Matthew not to use it against him.
Alan didn’t understand why he’d feel that way, but maybe this was Dante’s way of showing Moore and Matthew that he didn’t mean any harm.
Matthew closed his hand, and the bolt disappeared. For a moment, everyone in the room was silent. Then, someone slowly started clapping.
Everyone turned to him. If Alan remembered correctly, the man’s name was Mason.
“What?” Mason asked. “It was impressive.”
Matthew snorted. “Thank you.”
“It wasn’t a compliment. You’re fucking scary.”
Matthew grinned. “Thank you.”
Dante cleared his throat. Alan felt like the tension in the room had loosened a bit. He wasn’t sure Mason had done it on purpose, but he was grateful anyway.
“Do all of your people have this ability?” Dante asked Moore.
Moore’s jaw tightened. “If I tell you the truth, will you try to take us back to a council facility or something like that?”
Dante seemed taken aback by the question. “Why would we do that?”
“To experiment on us. To find out what we can do and use us.”
“We’re not the Glass Research Company. We don’t do that kind of thing.”
“How am I supposed to know for sure? How can I trust you with my people?”
“I don’t know what to tell you. You’ll have to take a chance if you want us to work together.”
Moore looked like he wanted to say no, but in the end, he relented. “No, we don’t all have the same ability. It’s unique to Matthew, just like my ability is unique to me.”
“Can you tell us a little bit more?”
Alan would be extremely frustrated if he was in Dante’s place. Getting answers out of Moore was like pulling teeth.
“We have someone who can see the future,” Moore explained. “One of us can fly, while another can explode things with his mind. He doesn’t need explosives. He just has to think hard enough about exploding you, and you’ll be nothing more than a memory. We’re dangerous.”
He didn’t have to say anything else. It was clear to everyone in the room that Moore was warning Dante and his team.
If they tried anything, the mutants wouldn’t let it go.
They’d defend themselves and the people they loved.
They were more than capable of doing so, and things wouldn’t go well for Dante’s team if they didn’t remember that.
Dante inclined his head. “I understand. Again, we’re not here to fight you. We’re here to help, and our focus will be on the labs and the hunters. We weren’t given any order when it comes to you and your people, so you don’t have anything to fear from us.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Moore said. “In the meantime, I hope you’ll remember how easily we can hurt you. I also want to tell you that we consider ourselves a family. That means that if you hurt one of us, you’re hurting all of us, and we’ll act accordingly.”
Damn. Alan was glad he was on Moore’s good side.